Hieroconfessor Agathangelus, Metropolitan Of Yaroslavl

Metropolitan Agathangelus, in the world Alexander Lavrentyevich
Preobrazhensky, was born on September 27, 1854 in the village of Mogila, Venevsky
uyezd, Tula province, in the family of a priest. After finishing

theological school in 1871 he entered the Tula theological seminary, and then,
in 1877 (according to another source, 1876), the Moscow Theological

Academy. After graduating from the Academy in 1881 with the degree of
candidate of theology, he was appointed teacher of Latin on July 15 in Rannenburg
theological school. On December 7. 1881 he was appointed assistant supervisor of
the Skopno theological school. On March 7, 1885, after the death of his wife and
son, he was tonsured into the mantia with the name Agathangelus. On March 10 of
the same year he was ordained to the priesthood. On December 7, 1886 (according
to another source, December 4) he was appointed inspector of the Tomsk
theological seminary with promotion to the rank of igumen, and on January 20
(according to other source, February 23or 28), 1888 - rector of the Irkutsk
theological seminary with promotion to the rank of archimandrite.

On September 10, 1889 Fr. Agathangelus was consecrated Bishop of Kirensk, the
second vicariate of the Irkutsk diocese, by Archbishop Benjamin of Irkutsk and
Bishop Macarius of Selenginsk in the Irkutsk Ascension monastery. On July 17,
1893 he was appointed bishop of Tobolsk, and April4, 1897 (according to another
source, October 4) - bishop of Riga. On May 6,

1904 he was made archbishop. Here he showed himself to be a liberal and humane
bishop: thanks to his efforts a large group of young people who had been
condemned to death by a military field court were saved. He was present at the
Holy Synod and was a member of the Pre-Conciliar Council. On August 13, 1910 he
was made archbishop of Vilnius and Lithuania and holy archimandrite of the
Vilnius Holy Spirit monastery. On December 22, 1913 he was appointed archbishop
of Yaroslavl, and in April, 1917 was promoted tothe rank of metropolitan. Vladyka
enjoyed the love of the clergy and laity ofthe Yaroslavl diocese, which he ruled
for many years. From 1917 he became a permanent member of the Holy Synod, and on
November 28 / December 11, 1917 - metropolitan. On January 25, 1918, Patriarch
Tikhon had made him the second candidate for the patriarchal locum tenancy after
Metropolitan Cyril of Kazan. On March 6, 1918 he was elected a member of the
Higher Church Council.

During the Civil War the people of Yaroslavl rebelled against the Bolsheviks,
and although Metropolitan Agathangelus feared the result in the form of
fratricidal bloodshed, he nevertheless blessed the insurgents. The revenge of the
victorious Bolsheviks was terrible, but they did not touchthe metropolitan, whose
authority was too great. However, according to one source, he was exiled in
1919.

In May, 1922, the Patriarch was arrested. Since the first candidate for the
post of patriarchal locum tenens, Metropolitan Cyril was in exile, he

handed over the administration of the Church to Metropolitan Agathangeluson
May 3/16. However, at this point the schismatic renovationist movement took over
the Church administration in Moscow, and sent Protopriest Krasnitskyto Yaroslavl
to negotiate with the metropolitan. He placed a number of conditions before the
Patriarch's lawful deputy which amounted to his placing himself in complete
dependence on the renovationists. Naturally, the metropolitan rejected these
conditions. So Krasnitsky returned to Moscow and the renovationists spread abroad
the rumour that the metropolitan was occupied "with his own affairs" and "was not
hurrying" to fulfil the Patriarch's command.

Levitin and Shavrov write: " Metropolitan Agathangelus' behaviour would indeed
have appeared quite incomprehensible if it had not been for one detail: for a
month now E.A. Tuchkov and Metropolitan Agathangelus had been conducting secret
negotiations. E.A. Tuchkov, whom the [renovationist] Higher Church Administration
considered their main support in negotiations with the metropolitan expressed the
desire to separate as quickly as possible from

this unsolid institution [the HCA] and support Agathangelus. However, a series
of concessions was expected from Agathangelus; he had to declare that he was
renouncing Patriarch Tikhon's political line. After a month's negotiations,
seeing that no progress was being made, Metropolitan Agathangelus unexpectedly
addressed the Russian Church with an appeal [of

June 5/18, 1922, N 214] which was printed by some underground printing-press
and very quickly distributed in Moscow and other cities

"E.A. Tuchkov was taken completely by surprise. The HCA was also shocked.
Metropolitan Agathangelus was immediately arrested and sent into

exile, to the Narymsk region. However, the appearance of this appeal showed
that the unprincipled line of V.D. Krasnitsky was meeting with a sharp rejection
in ecclesiastical circles"

On June 5/18, Agathangelus issued an epistle stating that he was accepting the
patriarchal locum tenancy and said about the livingchurchmen. "They have declared
their intention of reviewing the dogmas and moral teaching of our Orthodox Faith,
the sacred canons of the Holy Ecumenical Councils, the Orthodox order of Divine
services that were given to us by the great ascetics of Christian piety, and
organize in this way a new Church which they call the 'Living Church' Beloved in
the Lord Most Reverend Archpastors! Being deprived for a time of higher
leadership, you must now

rule your dioceses independently, in conformity with the Scriptures, the
church canons and the usual church law, according to your conscience and your
archpastoral oath, until the restoration of Higher Church Power And so, beloved
children in Christ, preserve the teaching, the ranks and the ordinances of our
faith, preserve everything that has been handed down tous, keep hold of the
Church of God. Know that those who depart from the Holy Church abandon their
Saviour. 'Therefore stand,' says the apostle, 'and keep the traditions which you
have learned, whether by word or our epistle.'."

When the metropolitan issued this epistle, he was placed under house

arrest in the Spassky monastery in Yaroslavl (on June 28), and then placed in
solitary isolation in prison in Yaroslavl (on August 22). In the autumn he was
imprisoned in the inner prison of the GPU in Moscow, and on November 25 he was
condemned to exile for three years.On November 28 he was transferred to the
Taganka, and on December 28 he was exiled to the remote settlementof Tomi
(according to another source, Kolpashevo), Narymsk region, Tomsk province,
Siberia, where he was looked after by his niece, Alevtina Vladimirovna
Preobrazhenskaya.

On December 25 / January 7, 1924/25, Patriarch Tikhon appointed Metropolitan
Agathangelus as the second patriarchal locum tenens. In 1926, on returning from
exile, hhe was detained in prison in Perm, where, on April

5/18 he announced that he was taking on the duties of patriarchal locum
tenens, as was his right. But Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) resisted him,
and on May 27 / June 12 Metropolitan Agathangelus submitted to him "for the sake
of the peace of the Church". In 1926 he returned to Yaroslavl.

However, towards the end of 1927 he wrote a letter to Bishop Paul of

Starobela, calling Sergius "a usurper of ecclesiastical power". And he formed
the so-called "Yaroslavl group", which declared its break of communion with
Metropolitan Sergius on January 24 / February 6, 1928. Although in May of

that year, probably under the influence of Tuchkov, who arrived in Yaroslavl
at that time, he displayed some wavering in his attitude towards Sergius,his
group remained as a de facto autocephaly until his death, reserving the right not
to carry out any instructions that "offended our and the people's conscience and,
as we believe, transgress the church canons". Moreover, there is evidence that
Metropolitan Agathangelus broke communion with Sergius again that summer. In
September, 1928 he wrote a sharp Epistle against Metropolitan Sergius.

According to Schema-Bishop Peter, Metropolitan Agathangelus advised him that
if Metropolitans Agathangelus, Cyril, Peter and Joseph should die, he should turn
to Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky), president of the Russian Church Abroad,
who was an opponent of Metropolitan Sergius. And when Metropolitan Sergius wrote
to him requesting him not to break communion with him and join the ranks of the
Catacomb Church, Metropolitan Agathangelus replied with a deafening silence. That
Vladyka Agathangelus was never reconciled with Metropolitan Sergius is affirmed
by his niece, A. V. Preobrazhenskaya.

Metropolitan Agathangelus died in Yaroslavl (according to another source,
Kineshma) on October 3/16, 1928, and was buried in the city's Leontiev
cemetery.